General Quarters is the ship's alert status. It is, basically, like Star Trek's “red alert” except this is what actual ships call it.

General Quarters can be called by any crew member, however it is generally called by the duty shift leader. Meaning, the pilot-in-command of the ship for the current shift. Typically, a crew member would contact the bridge and make a recommendation for general quarters rather than sounding it themselves. However, in the case of an emergency so drastic that seconds count – usually something engineering related – general quarters can be sounded without requesting it from the bridge.

The alert status can be called for basically any reason, but common reasons would be:

• Military/police inspection
• Responding to a distress call
• Mechanical failure of something important
• Training
• Hostile situation (i.e. pirates)
• Passengers being disruptive / fighting
• Medical emergency

When called, throughout the ship a message will play in a calm female voice:

General quarters, general quarters.  This (is/is not) a drill.
All passengers will please return to their quarters in a calm and orderly fashion.
Obey crew instructions at all time.

The message will repeat a couple times. The message may have some additions, with different meanings. These meanings are designed to not alert passengers to potentially hazardous situations that could cause panic. For example:

General quarters, general quarters.  This (is/is not) a drill.
All passengers will please return to their quarters in a calm and orderly fashion.
Obey crew instructions at all time.
All essential crew to muster stations.

This message means that crew with combat training should report to the deck 2 armory to be issued weapons. Other common examples may be messages such as:

We are undergoing a routine inspection.

During General Quarters, all crew across all shifts are to report to their stations. The following are notes for each division on the ship.

All pilots will report to the bridge. Occasionally, the General Quarters message may send them to the shuttle bay instead. At least one pilot should remain on the bridge at all times during general quarters.

Stewards are to ensure passengers are all in their quarters. Wherever they are when the message is sent, they will assist passengers in their vicinity and get people moving. Off-duty stewards that are coming on as part of the General Quarters condition will check all the public spaces on deck 4. Finally, a room by room head-count will be done to make sure all passengers are in their quarters.

Passenger quarters will be locked, however, the lock will automatically release if abandon ship is called.

In the case of an inspection, stewards will be directed to a docking port to greet the inspection team. Otherwise, they will do as instructed from the bridge.

All engineers will report to main engineering, unless otherwise instructed.

During an inspection, the cargo master and cargo handlers will also greet the inspection team at the docking port along with the stewards.

During most other emergencies, the cargo master will report to the bridge and the handlers will report to the cargo manager's office on deck 2 unless otherwise instructed.